Former Fort Scott resident featured in eclectic Kansas City art show

Saturday, January 5, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Artist Brendan Meara refers to his work, "Inspirational Themes," which recently showed at the Urban Culture Project's Paragraph Gallery in downtown Kansas City, Mo., as a "gesamtkunstwerk" of light, video, and sound; and simultaneously an attempt to invoke feeling brimming with optimism."

It was part of "As Loud as the Sky and Pasture," a show that Meara shared with another artist, Jules Hearne.

"Gesamtkunstwerk," defined as total artwork, describes the fusion of all the arts -- music, theater, and the visual arts -- into a single, unified medium of artistic expression that evokes and heightens mood or feeling.

German composer Richard Wagner used the term to describe his concept of the future of art.

According to ArtMuseum.net, Wagner believed that the classic Greeks had applied it through ampitheatrical seating and other techniques, but that the idea was lost until he began to use the gesamtkunstwerk approach to his operas through darkening of the theater, surround sound, reverberation, and other innovations that created total immersion for the audience.

"Inspirational Themes," which opened Nov. 16 at the Paragraph, 23 E. 12th St., embodies the gesamtkunstwerk concept with its four short music videos on grouped televisions combined with lights that flicker in synchronicity with the music.

It's not the kind of artwork a person can fully appreciate just walking by or stopping for a second or two. "Inspirational Themes" is a show within a show that plays out over several minutes.

The images, lights and music incorporated into the piece work together to stir the emotions of each individual audience member.

For those who missed the show at the Paragraph, Meara has created a limited edition digital video disc of the "Inspirational Themes" music videos. The DVD includes the four music videos, as well as a documentary of the artwork in action and a number of other features such as concept drawings and other audio-related works of art.

Meara, a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute and former Fort Scott resident, is an up-and-comer on the Kansas City art scene, having won The Pitch's Best New Media Show honor in 2006 with fellow artist Benjamin Thorpe for "Stains, Fingerprints, Watermarks and Scars."

"Inspirational Themes" on DVD can be purchased by contacting Meara at brendanlmearabc@hotmail.com.